Contents

Animals comprise various mundane creatures that have no magical or weapon-wielding abilities. Statistics for animals except horses are provided on this page; see Horses for all information pertaining to horses. The animals on this page are also all listed in the Oblivion-Creatures-Animals category.

The "Animals" category includes a wide variety of creatures, with different degrees of aggressiveness (some have no attack capability at all), and many different habitats. The characteristics common to all animals are that they are modeled upon real animals that exist on earth, and that they rely exclusively upon physical attacks using their bodies (claws, paws, hooves, fangs, horns, etc.). The damage values listed on this page under "Attacks" are all for melee-type damage.

Animals have no true magical capabilities; the only comparable features in animals are:

The leveled lists used for animals are somewhat complex. Unlike other creature classifications, there is no single semi-standard list. Under "Aggressive Animals on Standard Lists" are listed the animals that are most commonly found on the animal lists. "Aggressive Animals on Other Lists" provides other animals that are randomly generated, but appear on a variety of other lists. The remaining animals are generally never aggressive. The details of when and where an animal can be encountered are provided in each animal's specific section.

The level provided for each creature in the "Lvl" column is the typical level at which the creature is first encountered. As bosses, creatures will generally be encountered two levels earlier; also, all animals generated along roads can be encountered two levels earlier. All creatures encountered in the exterior of Fort Caractacus will also be encountered two levels earlier.

Some creatures' health varies depending upon your level, indicated by an equation in the Health column. The "lvl" used in the equation is your level. The soul for these creatures is usually variable; the souls column indicates the range of soul strengths that are possible. For full details on variable soul strengths see the Souls page.

The following table summarizes the standard animal lists that are used to generate random animals in ruins and caves. Animals are often mixed in with a few Monsters, according to the "Mixed" list shown in the table. These leveled lists are only used inside; the lists used to generate animals in the wilderness and along roads are summarized at Outdoors Creatures. See Leveled Lists for details on how these lists are used to determine the probabilities of individual creatures appearing.

Boars are never found in ruins or caves.

Standard
Animal

Vampire
Animal

Mixed

Number of Uses

28

38

237

Animals

Wolf

2

1

1

Timber Wolf

6

4

6

Black Bear

9

—

9

Mountain Lion

12

—

12

Brown Bear

16

—

16

Rat

1

1

—

Monsters

Imp

—

—

5

Will-o-the-Wisp

—

—

11

Spriggan

—

—

13

The editor names of the leveled lists that are covered by this table are as follows:

Bears are large, hostile creatures that will attack you if found infringing on their territory, and can typically be found in the wilderness or in caves. They are impressive creatures, much larger than the average adventurer, especially when standing up on their rear feet. Bears also have two main types of attack: biting, or standing up on the rear legs and mauling you with their paws. They are also not terribly fast in speed or agility. All variations of bears have a 20% resistance to frost and also have a 10% chance to transmit the Yellow Tick disease, which reduces both your speed and strength attributes.

Variations: Black Bear, Brown Bear, West Weald Bear

This is a summary of information on bears. See the main article for more detailed information.

Boars are small, relatively slow (speed 12) animals with dangerous tusks. They are encountered starting at level 7. They are the only hostile animal that is not found in ruins or caves. Boars are only found outside, in Plains, Swamps, Forest, and Rainforest regions. They will be found starting at level 5 along roads.

Deer are non-aggressive animals that even when attacked will prefer to flee. Deer are never found in caves and ruins. Outside, they are randomly generated using the same wilderness and roads leveled lists that generate predators. Therefore, deer are encountered when you are lucky and a deer was chosen in place of the enemy that otherwise would have been there. Furthermore, seven deer may be encountered in Mankar Camoran's Paradise. Deer are found starting at level 1 in any type of terrain. When deer appear, there are equal chances of encountering three does, two does, or a single buck.

Deer are quite fast (speed 21), so if you wish to hunt deer, you need to use ranged attacks, sneak up on them under the cover of night or magic, or have a very high running speed yourself. The male bucks can be identified by their antlers, and also have a different-colored hide than the female does. All deer have the following characteristics:

Dogs are domesticated animals (in appearance they are nearly identical to wolves); whether or not they are friendly depends upon who owns them. Randomly generated dogs are Bandit or marauder dogs (and in fact are generated in place of a bandit or marauder) that are hostile towards you, although they will not necessarily attack on sight. The other dogs in the game are all pets of townspeople and are friendly (unless you have done something to anger the owner).

Dogs primarily attack by biting. They are not particularly fast (speed 13). They all have the following characteristics:

Mountain lions are rapid and vicious predators. They are typically encountered at level 12. They are on the standard animal lists for caves and ruins. They are also randomly found outside in Farm, Plain, Rainforest, Highlands, and Mountain regions. They will be found starting at level 10 as boss-level creatures, along roads and in the exterior of Fort Caractacus. Furthermore, you will encounter 6 mountain lions at level 1 during the Fighters Guild quest A Rat Problem.

Mountain lions are particularly dangerous because of their speed (25). They have the following characteristics:

If you are wearing the Boots of the Crusader (from the Knights of the Nineofficial plug-in), normal Mountain Lions will no longer attack you. However, all other varieties (e.g., invisible ones at Fort Caractacus, Arena lions, and Starving Mountain Lions) are unaffected by the boots and will attack as usual.

Mud Crabs are weak nuisance creatures found everywhere near water. Although larger than many crabs on Nirn, they are smaller than most other animals encountered in Tamriel. They are part of many leveled lists. Outside, they are found in swampy areas, along coastlines, and in shallow water. In caves and ruins, they are found in "Wet Lairs": in just about any area with water, Mud Crabs can be randomly generated in place of the enemy that would normally be there. Mud Crabs are also very common in sewers.

Mud Crabs attack with their claws. They have the following characteristics:

Rats are the second type of weak nuisance creature that can be found nearly everywhere. As with Mud Crabs, they are oversized compared to many rats on earth, but are still relatively small compared to Tamriel animals. Outside, they are found in Farm, Valley, Forest, and Rainforest terrains. In caves and ruins, they are found in "Dry Lairs": in just about any area in Tamriel (but not in planes of Oblivion), Rats can be randomly generated in place of the enemy that would normally be there. Rats are also very common in sewers and in goblin lairs (where they are farmed for their rat meat).

Rats tend to jump up and bite; their hyperactive bounciness can be much more annoying than the minor damage that they do. They have the following characteristics:

A 25% chance of being infected with any one of seven diseases: Blood lung, Bone Break Fever, BrainRot, Feeble Limb, Red Rage, Shakes, or Witless Pox.

Found slowly ambling around the CheydinhalDark Brotherhood Sanctuary. This rat is a member of the Dark Brotherhood; killing him will get you expelled. However, as he is presumably considered too nonthreatening by Lucien Lachance to warrant assassination along with the rest of the Sanctuary residents, it is not necessary to kill Schemer to complete The Purification quest.

Sheep are the least aggressive animals in Tamriel; many do not even have the ability to fight back if attacked. Sheep are all found in farms and sheepfolds. The only randomly generated sheep in the game are those spawned by Wabbajack. There is a leveled list specifically to generate sheep, but it is never used; the standard sheep are only found at Shardrock.

Slaughterfish are the only fully aquatic animal in the game, and therefore are the sole inhabitant of deep waters around Tamriel. They are found around Lake Rumare (the northwest part of the lake has Rumare Slaughterfish; the rest of the lake has regular slaughterfish). They are also found in various submerged parts of caves and ruins. On rare occasions, Slaughterfish have been found out of water; bouncing and flailing around on dry land. Up to sixteen can be found in Mankar Camoran's Paradise.

The biggest challenge when fighting slaughterfish is fighting underwater. Several forms of attack (targeted spells, archery) are not available underwater (Archery can still be used, but only at such a close range it can almost be called a melee attack. If you can lure the slaughterfish close to shore, you can shoot it from solid ground with much more success.), and without Water Breathing great care has to be taken to not drown while fighting. Also, water is generally murky making it difficult to locate the fish (Detect Life can be very helpful). Slaughterfish have the following characteristics:

Wolves are fast and tenacious opponents. Regular Wolves are encountered starting at level 1; at level 6, Timber Wolves start to appear. Both types of wolves are common throughout Tamriel: they can be randomly generated in all types of terrain except Swamp and Rainforest. They are also found in caves and mines as part of standard animal and mixed leveled lists; they are also common in vampire lairs. Wolves in "Beast" leveled lists start to appear at level 2. Timber wolves start to appear at level 4 in Vampire dungeons, on roads and in the exterior of Fort Caractacus.

Wolves generally attack by biting; their speed (22) can make them more difficult to kill. Timber Wolves are 25% larger than regular Wolves, and do somewhat more damage. All wolves have the following characteristics:

If you are wearing the Boots of the Crusader (from the Knights of the Nineofficial plug-in), normal Wolves and Timber Wolves will no longer attack you. However, all other varieties (e.g., invisible ones at Fort Caractacus and Arena wolves) are unaffected by the boots and will attack as usual.